Conventionally a firefighter wears a hood which covers the head, neck and shoulder regions of the firefighter. The hood has a front opening for exposure of the face of the firefighter. The hood eliminates the possibility of a gap in the protective envelope around the neck, cheek, and ears between the helmet, face mask and coat collar of the firefighter. The hood is constructed of thermal barrier material. Thus, the hood serves a valuable function in protecting the firefighter against burns in the regions covered by the hood.
A problem exists with regard to the hood of the firefighter. Stress is the leading cause of injuries and deaths of firefighters. Heat generated within the firefighter's garments produces significant stress upon the firefighter. Conventional hoods for firefighters cover and enclose the head of the firefighter with thermal barrier material. Therefore, a significant amount of heat is trapped within the head region of the firefighter, as the hood covers the head of the firefighter. This is unfortunate in view of the fact that physiologists have verfied that the head is a primary area for body heat release as a result of blood "pooling" in this area. Of course, if heat is permitted to escape from the head of the firefighter the magnitude of the stress upon the firefighter is greatly reduced.
It is an object of this invention to provide a firefighter's hood which permits heat to escape from the firefighter's head, while permitting the hood to maintain its traditional and conventional thermal protection to the firefighter. Thus, stress upon the firefighter is reduced while providing no reduction in thermal protection to the firefighter's neck, cheek, and ears.
Other objects and advantages of this invention reside in the construction of the firefighter's hood, the combination of parts of the hood, the method of production of the hood and the mode of use of the hood, as will become more apparent from the following description.